It will be interesting to see whether Tiger takes out “at least” one Major this year like I predict.

If he does or doesn’t it wouldn’t surprize me either way.

But I was interested to get quite a bit of feedback that people are sick of hearing about Tiger Woods. And as it so happens, as I was searching the Internet I came across something from Forbes magazine to say that in a survey Tiger Woods was one of the most disliked athletes in the world in 2011.

However, the T.V. ratings for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am were the highest in 15 years.

Just goes to show…as much as people might not like Tiger Woods personally, they will tune in to watch him.

Everyone loves a villain.

All right, let’s look at improving YOUR golf game…

You hear it all the time on golf courses….I need to slow my swing down.

Maybe you’ve even said that yourself.

Well, unless you swing at 160 mph and are spraying it all over the place you don’t need to slow your swing down….ever!

You may need better timing. You may need better rhythm and tempo, but I bet my house on the fact that you will not need to slow your swing down.

I think T.V. has caused this big problem, because when you see a pro swing on T.V. it looks slow and smooth. But what you’re watching is not reality.

It’s like watching race cars on T.V. and thinking they look to be going quite slow.

Then when you watch a professional golfer swing or a race car go around a track in person it looks fast.

Now a great example is Fred Couples. His swing is so slow, smooth and easy right?

Well, his swing speed is up to 123 mph. So he might have a smooth and easy swing but it’s very FAST!

So you should swing smooth and fast.

That should be your goal if you want to hit longer drives.

You should never try to swing slow unless you’re playing a little knock down shot into the wind and you want to reduce the backspin on the ball.

The point of this article is to make sure that you NEVER say you need to slow down your swing. Take that word out of your golf vocabulary if you want longer drives.

Instead say things like….I need better timing. Or, I need better sequencing in my swing. Or, I need better rhythm.

If I hear you say you need to slow your swing down I’ll come and slap you around the ears. Got it?!

One simple way to learn to swing faster is to simply turn your driver upside down so you grip it near the clubhead. Then swing it. If you get a swing speed radar like this one I recommend and you find that you’re not swinging at least 10% faster than your normal driver swing speed, then you’ve trained yourself to swing slow.

Swinging something lighter than your normal golf club is a great way to train yourself to swing faster. The device must be about 10-20% lighter than your normal driver to get any benefit when you go to swing normally though.

So go to it…train to speed up your golf swing and you’ll hit longer golf shots.

Question

When I have a long shot and the ball is on a lie below my feet I have a hard time hitting these shots very well. Can you give me some pointers to improve my success rate on this shot?

Answer

This shot is one of the hardest shots in golf, so don’t feel bad about struggling with it. But there’s certain things you can do to increase your chances of success. Here’s how…

When you are faced with a shot where the ball is lying below your feet you must always take a longer club than normal and the more severe the slop the more club you should take.

So let’s say you’re 150 yards to the flag and your ball is on a lie below your feet. If you would normally hit a 7 iron then you should play a 6-iron if the slop is moderate. If it’s a steep slope then you could play a 5-iron or even a hybrid.

You’re not doing this because you’re going to lose tons of distance, but instead you’re doing it because the longer the club the easier it is to reach the ball for this type of lie.

Now, when you address the ball you want to bend more from your waist so you are closer to the ball. But make sure you keep your weight centered on your feet and not towards your toes otherwise you’ll fall forward when you swing and that will be bad.

When setting up to the ball you also need to aim left of your target as this type of lie automatically produces a left to right shot, so if you slice the ball you’ll have to allow for a lot more left to right spin.

When swinging on a sidehill lie like this you must concentrate on keeping your posture the same throughout the swing. If you raise your head up at all then you will be inviting disaster.

The more you practice these shots the better your chance of success when you play them for real. So find a slope where the ball is below your feet and do the following…

OK, that’s the end of this issue of the Consistent Golf Gazette. I hope you’re enjoying these weekly newsletters. We’re getting closer to The Masters all the time. Can’t wait!

For Consistent Golf,

Jeff Richmond
Director Of Instruction
The Consistent Golf School
http://www.TheConsistentGolfSchool.com

Well, I have a prediction for 2012 but before I give you that I first have a preamble.

Tiger Woods’ main reason for playing golf is to win 18 + Majors so he beats Jack Nicklaus’ record.

A major is a different kettle of fish than a regular playing event.

And I think that the Majors are where you’re going to see Tiger shine in 2012, because that’s what he craves more than anything in golf.

The other tournaments I think you’ll see him be up there but I don’t envision him winning tournament after tournament like he used to. And I don’t think Tiger would be too concerned about that because he’s preparing to win Majors. And in the majors I think you’ll see Tiger up in contention a lot more.

I predict that Tiger will win at least 1 Major this year. I would be surprized if he didn’t.

To be honest I’m sick and tired of commentators comparing Tiger to ‘pre-accident’ Tiger.

That’s in the past. History has been written on what happened then…whether we know everything or not, who cares.

The fact is, Tiger is a different golfer today than he was before that incident. That’s an undeniable fact.

Is he ever going to be that same golfer before that incident?

No.

Is he going to beat Jack Nicklaus’ Major record?

Possibly.

If he stays healthy for the next 4 – 5 years and he putts well, it’s going to be interesting to see him give it a crack.

All right, let’s look at improving YOUR golf game…

Imagine getting someone who is 15 years old, never trained in their life and can run the 100 meter sprint in 15 seconds and saying to them….

“Sorry, that’s as fast as you can run. Don’t try to train to run faster because you just won’t get any faster.”

That would be a stupid thing to say, right?

Well, the same thing can be said with any golfer.

I’ve heard other golf teachers say you can’t train to increase your swing speed.

That is ignorant and stupid. Just like in the example above about training a person to run faster.

While it’s true that some golfers will always swing faster than others, naturally it doesn’t mean YOU can’t increase your current swing speed.

And increasing your swing speed is the easiest way for you to gain distance. Because for every mph you increase in swing speed means an extra 2.5 yards in distance.

Add 10 mph swing speed to your swing and you’ve just gained about 25 yards in distance.

So how can anyone swing faster?

Well, you just can’t try to swing faster.

That doesn’t work.

What you need to do is train your body to move faster.

A simple way to train to swing faster is to get a golf club and then swing as fast as possible for about 8 seconds.

Then take a rest for about a minute and repeat again. You should do about 3 sets of this.

So you swing back and forth as fast as possible for 8 seconds. You’re not trying to hit a ball doing this exercise. You’re not trying to swing technically correct but instead you’re trying to swing as fast as you can.

That’s training to swing fast.

Then when you go to swing normally you’ll automatically be swinging faster. You won’t be trying to swing faster it will just happen as a result of your training.

There’s many more exercises like that in this program that you can do to improve your swing speed and consequently hit longer drives. But what I’ve just given you is an example to help you get started.

So don’t let anyone tell you that you’re already hitting the ball as far as you can. That’s rubbish!

If you train properly to swing faster you’ll be shocked with how much distance you can gain.

Question

When I’m faced with a pitch shot off dirt I find it very tough to hit a good shot consistently. Do you have any advice on how I can improve my success rate with this shot?

Answer

Hitting off hard pan lies is tough….for any golfer!

But it’s a shot you should practice often because it will really improve your entire ball striking performance.

Now obviously when you’re playing a ball off dirt it’s critical that you contact the ball first. Failure to do so will result in a very bad shot. To help you do this you want to make some setup changes.

First, you need to position the ball further back in your stance. The ball should be no further forward than the middle of your stance. And I even suggest you try placing the ball further back than this when you’re practicing to see what works best for you.

When playing a pitch shot off dirt you’re trying to hit the ball first with a slightly descending blow. By setting up your ball further back in your stance you’ll help to do this.

Next, you must make sure that your hands are placed ahead of the club at address. This is to encourage the hands ahead at impact.

What will also help to hit the ball first is to place about 70 – 80% of your weight on your left side at address, and keep it there throughout your swing.

Finally, when playing these shots you should try to use a wedge or a 9-iron. Only use a sand wedge or 60 degree if you absolutely have to.

Why?

Because there’s more bounce on a sand wedge/60 degree wedge and that will mean your contact will have to be perfect. With a wedge/9-iron you have a small amount of tolerance to miss the ball slightly and still get away with a half decent shot.

When you hit these shots perfectly you’ll get a lot of spin on the ball which makes it exciting. And one last thing…you must be aggressive with these shots. You don’t use a lazy type of swing with these shots. You need a short, sharp swing that contacts the ball first. That gets a lot of zip on the ball and makes good contact a lot easier.

One final thing….practice these shots a lot. It will only help improve your entire ball striking.

OK, that’s the end of this issue of the Consistent Golf Gazette. I hope you’re enjoying these weekly newsletters. We’re getting closer to The Masters all the time. Can’t wait!

For Consistent Golf,

Jeff Richmond
Director Of Instruction
The Consistent Golf School
http://www.TheConsistentGolfSchool.com